BATON ROUGE – LSU’s new Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building brings five science departments together under one roof for the first time while showcasing an energy-efficient approach to campus laboratory design.
The 142,000-square-foot, four-story facility was modeled to use just 25% of the energy of a typical laboratory building and save an estimated $2.5 million in capital costs. Completed in March 2026, the building creates a new home for LSU’s College of Science, bringing together the departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Geology & Geophysics, Mathematics, and Physics & Astronomy while supporting enrollment growth, strengthening research infrastructure and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration.
Designed by New Orleans-based architecture firm EskewDumezRipple in partnership with associate architect Payette, the building was intended to expand capacity for foundational science education, provide modern facilities needed to recruit and retain faculty and researchers, and advance collaboration across academic disciplines, research efforts and public-private partnerships. The facility will serve approximately 1,150 students, faculty and researchers.
Science on Display at LSU
Conceived as both a physical and academic crossroads, the building strengthens connections across LSU’s South Campus while making scientific work more visible and accessible. Research laboratories, teaching labs, classrooms, offices, data visualization labs and a 250-seat active learning auditorium are organized around shared collaboration and social spaces intended to encourage interaction across disciplines.
The active learning auditorium was designed to support more than 250 students while allowing instructors to shift easily between lecture-style classes and small-group breakout sessions. Transparency throughout the building supports a “science on display” approach, allowing students, faculty and visitors to observe discovery in action without disrupting the work taking place within. EskewDumezRipple conceived the building as a place where scientific discovery is visible and interdisciplinary collaboration can occur naturally through shared teaching, research and social spaces.
The project grew from LSU’s 2017 Comprehensive and Strategic Campus Master Plan. Located between the historic quad, existing science and engineering buildings, and the future central library and learning commons, the site was selected to become a new interdisciplinary hub. The project also included demolition of the former dairy science facility and relocation of the LSU Dairy Store into a renovated nearby building, improving its visibility and strengthening its connection to the Food Science program.
Designed for Efficiency and Growth
Laboratory buildings are typically among the most energy-intensive facilities on university campuses, but the design team sought to reduce demand by tailoring ventilation systems to how spaces are actually used. Approximately one-third of the laboratory space supports research requiring higher ventilation capacity, while two-thirds serves undergraduate teaching laboratories where chemical use is more predictable. Biology teaching labs eliminated traditional fume hoods, while chemistry teaching labs use ductless hoods with targeted filtration systems.
The building’s organization also supports an air cascade strategy, allowing conditioned air from lower-airflow spaces such as offices and dry teaching labs to be reused as part of the make-up air strategy for higher-airflow laboratory areas. Combined with a tight, well-insulated, moderately glazed envelope, these measures allow the building to achieve its projected energy performance while reducing the need for oversized HVAC infrastructure and lowering long-term operating costs.
EskewDumezRipple said the building’s facade draws inspiration from Louisiana’s tree canopies and LSU’s historic campus fabric, translating natural patterns into an architectural expression of depth, layering and variation. The design was intended to give the facility a distinct identity while reflecting both scientific inquiry and the surrounding campus landscape.
LSU says the facility is expected to strengthen the College of Science’s ability to recruit and retain faculty, students and research partners while enhancing its competitiveness for grants, philanthropy and industry support.
EskewDumezRipple designed the building with associate architect Payette, while MAPP Construction served as construction manager. Other team members included Fox-Nesbit Engineering, Newcomb & Boyd, CARBO Landscape Architecture, Rayner Consulting Group, Terracon Consultants and Landsource, Inc.
